Climate Change Effects

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• Climate Change Effects
• Negative
• Sea Level
• Examples
• Estimated that sea level rise of 1 m would
  displace 15 million people in UK
• Estimated that measures to protect low lying land
  in US from damage would cost gt 100 billion
• Bangladesh More than 17 million people live
  less than 1 m above sea level
• 38 of food production tied to flood plains
• Maldives Highest elevation 24 m
• Japan Fishing rights around pinnacle
• AOSIS (Alliance of Small Island States) Strong
  concerns about sea level rise

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• Climate Change Effects
• Negative
• Sea Level
• Caveats
• Sea level not rising in all areas
• Sea level rise began before Industrial Revolution

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http//www.epa.gov/climatechange/science/recentslc
.html
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• Climate Change Effects
• Negative
• Rainfall Patterns
• Warming should lead to
• Reduced precipitation at low latitudes
• Increased precipitation at high latitudes
• Examples
• Reduced snowpack in Sierra Nevada Mountains due
  to rainfall instead of snow
• Drought in many parts of the world

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Annual Trends 1901-2005
http//www.epa.gov/climatechange/science/recentpsc
_precipanom.html
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Source U.S. Global Change Research Program
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• Climate Change Effects
• Negative
• Sea Level
• Rainfall Patterns
• Storms
• Warming should lead to
• More severe storms
• Greater storm frequency
• May not occur if temperature differential between
  poles and equator is weakened, not strengthened

8
www.ncdc.noaa.gov/oa/climate/research/cei/cei.html
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(No Transcript)
10
http//www.hprcc.unl.edu/nebraska/U_S_SEVERE.html
11

• Climate Change Effects
• Negative
• Species Extinction Ecosystem Changes
• Shifting climatic zones could expand ranges of
  warmth-tolerant species and contract ranges of
  warmth-intolerant species
• Colder-living species might be displaced poleward
  as well as upward in elevation
• Species unable to adapt or move would go extinct
• Populations of various species might be isolated,
  leading (eventually) to speciation (Good?)
• Within an ecosystem, some species will be more
  sensitive to climate change than others
• Species composition of ecosystems almost
  certainly will change
• Changes in CO2 concentrations ? pH of ocean

12

• Climate Change Effects
• Negative
• Ozone Holes
• Global warming of the atmosphere translates to
  stratospheric cooling
• Stratospheric cooling may enhance ozone
  destruction in Antarctic and make phenomenon more
  common in Arctic (Waibel et al. 1999)
• Health
• Consistently elevated temperatures can lead to
  immunosuppression
• Exacerbated by elevated levels of UV-B
• Ex Mass mortality of animals in last 10 years
  due to viral infections
• - Seals in North Sea
• - Lions in Serengeti (Africa)
• - Horses in Australia
• - Birds in western US
• Allergies could worsen due to increased pollen
  production, dust (desertification), mold
  (humidity)
• Additional human mortality from severe summer heat